Seasonally adjusted main labour force indicators have been started to be published since 2010. Seasonally adjusted labour force indicators for the Januray 2005 - January 2010 terms were published as a separate press release on April 30, 2010. Starting from the period of February 2010, seasonally adjusted labour force indicators for the related periods are given with the concerned press release. Table 1 includes original and Table 2 includes seasonally adjusted labour force indicators.

Working age population increased by 982 thousand in the period of April 2011 compared to the same period of the previous year

While non-institutional population increased by 944 thousand persons and has reached to 72 million 117 thousand persons, non-institutional working age population has increased by 982 thousand and has reached to 53 million 342 thousand persons in the period of April 2011.

Labour force participation rate was 49,9% in the period of April 2011

Labour force participation rate (LFPR) realized as 49,9 % with 1.1 percentage points increase compared to the same period of the previous year for Turkey in April 2011 period. LFPR was realized as 71,6 % with 0,8 percentage points increase for male compared to the same period of the previous year and realized as 28,9 % with 1,2 percentage points increase for female.

As for the distribution of labour force by education and age group;

16,5 % of the total labour force were comprised of persons within the 15-24 age group.

Labour force participation rate of persons having education below high school was 69,8 % for male while it was 25,3 % for female.

Labour force participation rate of persons with higher education was 85,2 % for male while it was 71,3 % for female.

Number of employed persons increased by 1 million 454 thousand persons compared to the same period of the previous year and has reached to 23 million 955 thousand persons in the period of April 2011. Agricultural employment increased by 411 thousand persons and non-agricultural employment increased by 1 million 43 thousand persons in this period.

Of those who were employed in April 2011; 25,2 % was employed in agriculture, 20,2 % was employed in industry, 6,7 % was employed in construction and 47,9 % was employed in services. Employment in agriculture increased by 0,2 percentage point, industry increased by 0,7 percentage point and construction increased by 0,4 percentage point while that of services decreased by 1,4 percentage point .

Structure of employment

In this period, of those who were employed;

70,8 % were male,

59,7 % had education below high school.

61,2 % were regular and casual employee, 25,2 % were self-employed or employer, 13,5 % were unpaid family worker.

59 % worked in establishments consisting of “1-9 employees”.

3,2 % had an additional job.

2,9 % was seeking job either to replace the current job or to augment the existing job.

88,8 % of regular employees worked in permanent jobs.

Persons who were not registered to any social security institutions related to the main job

The ratio of persons who worked without any social security related to the main job declined to 42,1% with 1,2 percentage point decrease. The share of persons who did not have any social security in agriculture decreased from 85,1% to 82,6% and that in non-agriculture decreased from 29,4% to 28,5% compared to the same period of the previous year.

Unemployment rate was 9,9 %

Number of unemployed persons decreased by 434 thousand persons compared to the same period of the previous year and has reached to 2 million 637 thousand persons in Turkey. Unemployment rate realized as 9,9 % with 2,1 points decrease. Unemployment rate was realized as 11,9 % with 2,3 percentage points decrease in urban areas and reached to 6,1 % with 1,5 percentage points decrease in rural areas.

Among those who were employed previously; 48,6 % were employed in “services”, 21,6% were employed in “industry”, 18,4 % were employed in “construction”, 7,7 % were employed in “agriculture” and 3,7 % of them quitted their last job before the last eight years.

30,3 % of unemployment persons were those who had a temporary job that was ended, 15,4 % were dismissed, 17,2 % left their job by their own initiative, 8,2 % closed their job or bankrupted, 8,8 % were engaged in household chores, 8,4 % were in education or training or just graduated and 10,9 % of those were related with other reasons.

52,5 % of persons who were not in the labour force had worked previously

Among persons who had previously worked and were currently out of labour force; 18,1 % had worked in “agriculture”, 11 % had worked in “industry”, 2,8 % had worked in “construction” and 19,9 % had worked in “services” and 48,2 % of them quitted their last job before the last eight years.

Labour movements in the period concerned

2 million 29 thousand persons either started to work or changed their current job in the period of April 2011 and it accounted for the 8,5 % of total employment. 25-34 age group comprises 32,8 % of persons who started to work or changed the current job in this period.

Among persons who either began to work or changed the job, 20,5 % have started in “industry”, 34,7 % have started in “services”, 26,4 % have started in “construction” and 18,4 % have started in “agriculture”.

12,5 % (329 thousand persons) of unemployed population were comprised of persons who quitted their job in this period.

Table 2. Seasonally adjusted main labour force indicatorsIn the period of April 2011, number of seasonally adjusted employed persons increased by 63 thousand persons compared to the previous period and number of seasonally adjusted unemployment persons increased by 28 thousand persons. Seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate realized as 49,9 % without any change and employment rate realized as 44,9 % without any change. Unemployment rate realized as 10 % with 0,1 percentage points increase compared to the previous period.

Sample size and non-response rate

Results published in April 2011 release pertain to the 3 months period including March, April and May 2011. A total of 42 353 sample households, 30 585 of which were from urban areas and 11 768 of which were from rural areas were used in this term. 36 424 households were interviewed and non-response forms were filled due to various reasons for 5 929 households. In April 2011, the non-response rate was 14,3 % in rural areas, 11,5 % in urban areas, and 12,3 % or overall Turkey.

97 452 persons aged 15 and over from the sample households were interviewed in this period.

The publication date of the next press release related to this subject is 15.08.2011.